Marc Mauer

Marc Mauer argues in the following viewpoint that while incarceration may have an impact on crime rates, other factors play a role as well. He examines crime and incarceration rates during a twenty-five year period and finds that while the incarceration rate steadily climbed, the crime rate fluctuated. The most significant change in crime rate during this period was for burglary, which fell 41 percent. However, Mauer maintains that prisons did not see a surge in the number of burglars who were sent to prison. Therefore, Mauer concludes, the data does not conclusively link imprisonment rates with crime rates. Mauer, the assistant director of The Sentencing Project, a national organization that promotes reform in the criminal justice and prison systems, is the author of Race to Incarcerate, from which this...